Man airlifted to hospital after being bitten THREE times by adder during bike ride

Great North Air Ambulance Service as it attended the scene (Picture: PA)

A man has been airlifted to hospital after he was bitten a number of times by a snake after picking it up during a bicycle ride.

The unnamed 44-year-old, who is said to be seriously ill, was cycling through Dalby Forest, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, when he was bitten three times by an adder.

An off-duty paramedic was able to give immediate assistance to the man before a doctor arrived at the scene, Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) said.

Adder (Picture: PA)

The man, who is from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was stabilised before he was airlifted to the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, where he was in a serious but stable condition last night.

The adder is Britain’s only venomous snake.

The last death in the UK was in 1975 when a five-year-old boy was bitten on the ankle in the Trossachs, in Scotland.

Children bitten by an adder will usually make a full recovery in about one to three weeks but adults usually require more than three weeks to recover fully. Some adults can take up to nine months.

About 100 adder bites are reported in the UK each year, with most between February and October.

The snake, which grows to up to about 30 inches long, is common throughout mainland Britain.